The COVID-19 Report for Nov 24th, 2020

Today Dr. Marjorie Bessel is the chief clinical officer at Banner Health gave a press conference talking about the spike in COVID-19 infections. She addressed the effects and predictions across the entire health system.

Dr. Bessel gave a dark forecast about the impact of the upcoming holiday travel, curent mitigation prevention levels, and the slow arival of vaccines. The predictions are dark and a vaccine for the general public is not projected to be available until mid-2021.

The only solution for the public is to mask up and stay home. Tighten your circle and try to avoid other people. Former Arizona public health director Will Humble warns that a recent ASU study showed the US Health Care System will reach max capacity on December 24th.

The first round of 20 million vaccines is expected to be approved soon. Arizona will receive a share of the vaccines by December 14th based on our state’s population. The first round will go to Health Care Workers and First Responders.

Because of the CARES Act, if you have private health insurance, you will not pay any out-of-pocket costs. The 32.8 million uninsured people in America can expect to pay between $2 to $40 per dose. Most vaccines will require two doses.

The biggest challenge we face is our health care system. The for-profit system was overstressed before we entered the pandemic. We face shortages of medical personal, hospital beds, protective equipment, and medicine. The rate of spread could overwhelm the entire system before Christmas.

The mask mandate for Phoenix remains in effect and face coverings are required in all enclosed public spaces, buses, and trains.

Testing

Phoenix community partners regulary hold free COVID-19 testing sites. Pre-registration is required but it is free to all community members.

As the pandemic increases testing slows down.

Oxford–AstraZeneca Vaccine

Oxford and AstraZeneca found that the two-dose vaccine had an overall efficacy of 70%. Two dosing regiments were measured, one using two full doses with an average of 62% and one using 1/2 dose followed in two weeks with a full dose had an average of 90%. More testing is needed before approval.

COVID-19 Self-Testing at Home

U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test for self-testing at home and that provides rapid results.

The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is a molecular (real-time loop mediated amplification reaction) single-use test that is intended to detect the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.

Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine

Moderna announced that its COVID-19 Vaccine met statistical criteria with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. Like the Pfizer Vaccine, it should be remembered that the analysis only included 95 participants with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Monoclonal Antibody Therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the investigational Monoclonal Antibody Therapy bamlanivimab for the outpatient treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients. It is currently available in limited quantities now.

The U.S. government has purchased 300,000 doses of bamlanivimab and committed that Americans will have no out-of-pocket costs for the medicine, although healthcare facilities may charge a fee for the product’s administration.

Regeneron monoclonal antibody received EUA from the FDA but is not currently available. It’s authorized for recently diagnosed, mild to moderate COVID-19 in high-risk patients

Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

Pfizer and partner BioNTech said that their vaccine against Covid-19 was 90% effective. Although extremely good news it should be taken with a grain of salt. The test period was only over a 7 day period and only included 75 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

It is important to remember that these vaccines have just been invented and we still do not have very much data on how well they work, what the side effects will be, or what the long-term effects will be.

Coronavirus Protection Plan

As the positivity rate in Arizona rises, so does the risk to you and your family. Please protect them and reduce the spread of COVID-19 by:

• Wearing a mask
• Putting at least 6 feet of distance between you and others
• Avoiding all gatherings
• Wash your hands frequently
• Wipe down high-touch surfaces frequently
• Staying home if you can
• Seek medical care if you suspect you have COVID-19